Two athletes, a man known as ‘Mr. Basketball’ and a longstanding organization will be inducted into the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame.
On Tuesday, the hall of fame announced its 2022 inductees, who will be enshrined later this year in November.
Making up this year’s class are Rob Friend, who played for Canada’s national soccer team; runner Phil Ellis; Jack May, who founded a popular high school basketball program in Kelowna; and the Kelowna Major Men’s Fastball League.
Friend, born in Saskatchewan but raised in Kelowna, was a six-foot-five striker who represented Canada. In addition to playing for Canada’s U20 and U23 teams, he also suited up 32 times for the national senior soccer team from 2003-11.
An All-American player in the NCAA, Friend also played professionally in Norway, Netherlands and Germany before signing with the L.A. Galaxy in MLS for one season in 2014. He retired in December of that year.
Ellis was a national-class runner who dominated the Kelowna running scene for years.
His highlights include second- and third-place finishes at the Canada Summer Games and running for the national team.
The hall said his Canadian five-kilometre record stood for 16 years, but was beaten in 2018 by one second, and that his 10-km time at the Harry Jerome meet remains the third-fastest time by a Canadian.
At the national championships, he garnered five gold medals, five silver and four bronzes. His career ended in 1997 due to injury.
Both Friend and Ellis will be inducted into the athlete category.
May is being inducted due to a lifetime commitment to basketball, which includes coaching, refereeing and administrative duties.
In addition to founding the Western Canada Basketball Tournament at Kelowna Senior Secondary, May was inducted into the B.C. basketball hall of fame in 2014.
He was also the past president of the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association.
May will be inducted into the builder category.
“We look back at the past, what you have done, what you have accomplished and what you have done to build that sport,” Pat Kennedy, managing director of the hall of fame, said of May.
The fastball league, now in its 79th season, began in 1940, and has been playing games since then at Kings Stadium in the downtown area.
The league has hosted international events, including the national senior men’s selection camp.
The league will be inducted into the pioneer category.
“Kelowna has always been a hotbed in Canada for fastball and across western Canada, so it’s exciting to see the league get its due and be acknowledged,” said Andre Blanleil, a board member of the Major Men’s Fastball Association.
“There’s fastball players that have played all over the world at world-calibre levels have come out of the Major Men’s Fastball Association.”
The official ceremony takes place on Nov. 10 at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna and the public is welcome to join. Tickets will go on sale in October.
For more information visit www.kelownamuseums.ca.
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